by Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC on July 2, 2009
Tech support has been the bane of many companies. Watching their costs skyrocket, many began charging for tech support beyond a limited time frame. Many (most?) tried outsourcing to India and the Philippines, but some have pulled back to US-based support after their customers screamed about unintelligible “help.”
My experience with Apple’s tech support was no different — until recently. As a Mac user since 1989, I even formed a MacUsers group to help sort out Mac issues, which then morphed into an listserve. Luckily, Macs don’t need a lot of tech support, or at least my needs were pretty minimal.
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by Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC on June 29, 2009
Being a conscious conversationalist is critical to a long-term relationship, whether with a coworker, customer, or friend — at least for me. I’ve encountered many people who are conversationally challenged. Since it is doubtful your friends or colleagues will volunteer that you are an inept conversationalist, as a public service I thought I’d delineate some of the most common conversational culprits.
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by Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC on June 23, 2009
I’d been putting off buying an iPhone for several reasons, but a key one was the horror stories I’d heard about the AT&T customer service. I was a happy Verizon customer, often being amazed at the great customer service when I called in with a question.
My Verizon contract had ended. I waited a few more months to see if the iPhone would be available with other carriers after the initial 2-year monopoly. It didn’t. I could wait no longer. I pre-ordered mine on June 8, the first day orders could be placed.
I received a notice on June 12 that my number would be ported over to AT&T on the 19th, when I was slated to receive my iPhone. However, the number they were confirming would be transferred was my office number, not my cell phone number. This would not do.
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by Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC on June 18, 2009
Have you ever written the wrong word and got egg on your face? Ever tripped up your readers with fuzzy word choices that confuse them? Those who wrestle with words can find ourselves wondering if we’ve picked the right one. Is it compliment or complement? Waver or waiver? Who or whom?
Thanks to my friend and colleague Barbara McNichol, she’s making it easy. She now has the 2009 version of her popular ebook Word Trippers — a valuable tool for writers, speakers, and others who finds our language puzzling at times.
- Not sure if famous and notorious can be interchanged? Look ’em up!*
- Not sure if you should use “fewer” or “less” when counting the eggs in a basket? Look ’em up!**
- Not sure when “between” is accurate or when “among” is the perfect choice? Look ’em up fast using your computer’s search function! [More]
by Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC on June 4, 2009
My friends at SupportIndustry.com are offering a free white paper, “Best Practices for Coaching Your Support Team to Handle Anything.”
It provides a step-by-step game plan for solving your support agents’ worst nightmares, based on the author’s experience in successfully “turning around” support performance, as well as current research in the psychology of how we communicate with people. In the process, you will learn how specific, procedural skills — both for how your agents respond to customers, and how you coach your team — can change everything about how your interact with customers, in a way that will impact both your support metrics and your bottom line.
Download the full white paper.
Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC
